President-elect

History was made today. Illinois Senator Barack Obama was elected President of the United States with 51 percent of the popular vote and 338 electoral votes. Barack Obama is the first African American to be elected President in the history of the nation. WHOA!!!!!!!!

News from a different source

Fat Joe calls Daddy Yankee a sell-out

Woods wife expecting

New Orleans celeb faction quiet after Gustav

Alarming numbers of blacks living in poverty

Diddy thinks McCain should reconsider

Singer Robin Thicke claims discrimination

Singer Robin Thicke recently revealed some of the struggles he's faced trying to make it in the music biz.

Thicke, a white R&B singer and son of actor Allen Thicke, said crossing the color line has been a lot harder than many think. In a recent interview with Billboard magazine, the singer told a story about how he was denied the cover of Vibe because of his skin color.

"When I did a recent interview with Vibe magazine I asked, 'Why can't I get the cover? This is a magazine I love. If there's one magazine that I'd want to be on the cover of, it's Vibe,' " the singer explained. "Their response was they don't have white artists on the cover; that the only white artist they've had on the cover was Eminem. I guess if that's what it is, it is what it is. And I respect that because I live in a house with a black woman."

While the denial can be seen as a form of reverse racism, Thicke simply says it's obstacles like this makes him what he is today.

"I won't use the word 'racism.' I will say it's a tough, but rewarding, fight," he explained. "You can't always expect people to be as color-blind or open-minded as you want. What you can do is keep giving your heart and soul, like Bob Marley did. His music became so overwhelmingly loving; it was a relentless love in a sense. Keep beating them down with love and they can't stop you."

Thicke is preparing for the release of his third album, titled "Something Else." The first single is titled "Magic." The album is slated for release September 30.

News from a different source

NEW YORK - Cosmetics giant L’Oreal says it didn’t lighten Beyonce’s skin tone in an ad.
“We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L’Oreal Paris altered Ms. Knowles’ features or skin tone in the campaign for Feria hair color,” the Paris-based company said in a statement sent to the Associated Press Thursday.

The ad is in the September issues of Elle, Allure and Essence on stands now.

L’Oreal, the maker of Garnier hair care and Lancome cosmetics, is the world’s largest cosmetics maker.

A representative for Beyonce said the singer would have no comment beyond L’Oreal’s statement.

In the two-page L’Oreal ad, Beyonce’s wind-swept hair is a reddish blond shade with highlights. A box of Feria in the ad features a white woman with a similar hair color.

The ad created a stir after it was pointed out Wednesday by celebrity gossip Web site TMZ, which is owned by Time Warner Inc.’s AOL unit.

TMZ’s post showed side-by-side photos comparing the ad with a photo of Beyonce with noticeably darker skin and hair. It was the site’s most commented on post Thursday afternoon.
Beyonce’s lighter appearance in the L’Oreal ad may just be the result of creative touchups or lighting to balance her highlighted hair, said Cynthia Park, president of K&L Advertising, a multicultural advertising firm based in New York City.

Still, she said companies need to be particularly careful when playing with the images of ethnic minorities in ads.

“Or you end up falling victim to these types of situations,” Park said.

Beyonce has been a spokeswoman for L’Oreal since 2001. Other spokeswomen for L’Oreal include Scarlett Johansson, Milla Jovovich, Eva Longoria Parker and Kerry Washington.

A representative for Elle said magazine ads are reviewed before they are printed, but wasn’t sure of the exact procedure for checking content. Representatives for Essence and Allure magazines were not immediately available for comment.

Music legend Isaac Hayes, 65, dies

Isaac Hayes, the bald headed, baritone-voiced soul crooner who laid the groundwork for disco and whose “Theme From Shaft” won both Academy and Grammy awards, died Sunday afternoon after he collapsed near a treadmill, authorities said. He was 65.

Hayes was pronounced dead at Baptist East Hospital in Memphis an hour after he was found by a family member, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said. The cause of death was not immediately known.

With his muscular build, shiny head and sunglasses, Hayes cut a striking figure at a time when most of his contemporaries were sporting Afros. His music, which came to be known as urban-contemporary, paved the way for disco as well as romantic crooners like Barry White.

And in his spoken-word introductions and interludes, Hayes was essentially rapping before there was rap. His career hit another high in 1997 when he became the voice of Chef, the sensible school cook and devoted ladies man on the animated TV show “South Park.”

Hayes was about to begin work on a new album for Stax, the soul record label he helped build to legendary status. And he had recently finished work on a movie called “Soul Men” in which he played himself, starring Samuel Jackson and Bernie Mac, who died on Saturday.

Actor, Comedian Bernie Mac, 50, dies

Actor and comedian Bernard Jeffrey McCullough, known as Bernie Mac, died Saturday. He was 50.

Mac died of complications from pneumonia in a Chicago-area hospital, his publicist, Danica Smith, said in a statement from Los Angeles.

Mac's talent delivered him from a poor childhood to stardom as a standup comedian, in films including the casino heist caper "Ocean's Eleven" and his acclaimed sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show."

Though his comedy drew on tough experiences as a black man, he had mainstream appeal — befitting inspiration he found in a wide range of humorists: Harpo Marx as well as Moms Mabley; squeaky-clean Red Skelton, but also the raw Redd Foxx.

Mac suffered from sarcoidosis, an inflammatory lung disease that produces tiny lumps of cells in the body's organs, but had said the condition went into remission in 2005. He recently was hospitalized and treated for pneumonia, which his publicist said was not related to the disease.

Surviving are his wife, Rhonda; his daughter, Je'Niece; and his granddaughter, Jasmine.

Services are Saturday, Aug. 16 at noon at House of Hope, 752 E. 114th St., Chicago. Donations in Mac's honor may be sent to the Bernie Mac Foundation for Sarcoidosis, 40 E. 9th St., Suite 601, Chicago, IL 60605.

You know what really grinds my gears

When women are nasty, not just dirty or unkempt, but nasty in public. All my life I was told women are cleaner than men, but apparently there are a group of dirty women running around here doing nasty things giving clean women a bad name.

I'm on vacation in Orlando right now. I went shopping at the Mall at Millenia yesterday. I haven't bought a swimsuit in about three years, so I figured its about time to get one. I think those monokinis (one piece with the sides cut out) look really sexy so I went into the Victoria Secret to try one on.

The one I really liked only came in white, but it looked really cute so I picked up the only one they had in my size and was about to go try it on. But after examining the product I found in the crotch area there was a stain. Typically the crotch area of swimsuits have a protective strip for women who want to try on the outfit without underwear. However the protective strip on this swimsuit was pulled back and there was a large dark red stain. I have seen stains like that before so I recognized it as a period blood stain.

How fucking nasty can some people be. How do you go to store while you are on your period, try on a swimsuit without your underwear on, leave a stain and put the suit back on the rack for someone else to pick it up? Honestly I feel that underwear should be mandatory trying on clothes. I don't need your vaginal juices on a swimsuit I might actually buy.

What really bothers me is this act was probably perpetrated by an adult or someone who has been having their period for at least 3 years. I figure that because how many 13 year old girls do you find in Victoria Secret. When I was 13 I had a swimsuit that covered up as much as possible. So if you're grown enough to shop at Victoria Secret you should be grown enough to know when your period is coming. You should be on a regular cycle so saying I didn't know it was coming is no excuse, if your not on a regular cycle please contact a health care professional.

Tell us what really grinds your gears. If we feel the same way, your pet peeve or minor irritation can appear on our blog.

Guyanese Independence Day

Aside from being a day to remember those that have given their lives for the peace and safety of our nation, today is also the independence day of one of the four non-Spanish speaking territories in South America.

Considered a part of the Caribbean, the cooperative Republic of Guyana, previously known as British Guiana, came under British control in the 18th century. Slavery was abolished in the nation, located north of the equator, in 1834. It remained under British control until May 26, 1966. It became a republic in 1970 and has remained a commonwealth nation.

Guyanese live by the motto: "One people, one nation, one destiny." Despite years of power struggle and a slow economy, Guyanese people have found ways to preserve their rich culture and heritage.

NOT GUILTY!!!

NEW YORK - They waited for hours, singing spirituals, praying and chanting for justice. In a flash, the crowd gathered outside a Queens courthouse Friday erupted in anger and grief.

Men cursed and shouted. Women wailed and covered their faces. "Oh, no! No!" they yelled as word spread that three police officers had been cleared of all charges in the 50-bullet shooting that took Sean Bell's life on his wedding day in 2006.

Trent Benefield, a friend of Bell's who was wounded in the hail of gunfire, staggered down the courthouse steps with a look of angry disbelief on his face, a friend's arms tightly wrapped around his shoulders.

"Not guilty. Not guilty. It's real," Benefield said, while dozens of people wearing Bell's face on hats, T-shirts and buttons burst into sobs.

Angry supporters of the Bell family shouted at police officers and journalists outside the courthouse, but within an hour the crowd of about 200 people had settled down and dispersed. Despite some pushing and shoving in the crowd, no arrests were made.

The protests were muted compared with past verdicts where officers were cleared in police shootings of black men, perhaps a result of improved race relations and the complicated nature of the Bell case. Bell was black, but so were two of the three officers charged in the shooting, including the one who fired the first shot.

Civil rights leaders demanded a federal investigation, but supporters of the officers said justice had been served.

"How do I spell relief? N-O-T G-U-I-L-T-Y," said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives Endowment Association, a police union.

Racist letter writer pleads not guilty

A man suspected of writing racist letters to blacks, including a U.S. Supreme Court Justice a and a major league baseball player pleaded not guilty in federal court Thursday.

David Tuason, 46, is charged with two counts of transmitting threatening interstate communications and six counts of mailing threatening communications. He is being represented by a public defender.

The FBI says Tuason wrote threatening letters over two decades, often targeting black men who were seen with white women. The letters dating back to the late 80s, seemed to stop in the early 90s, but started again later that decade.

FBI agents found Tuason a few months ago when he started sending messages via e-mail instead of U.S. mail, authorities said.

According to the indictment, Tuason sent a letter to the Supreme Court on July 25, 2003, addressed to an associate justice of the court referred to in the indictment as "CT." Clarence Thomas' wife is white.

In the letter, which contained several racially derogatory remarks, the writer threatened to blow up the Supreme Court building, and wrote that "CT" would be "castrated, shot or set on fire ... I want him killed."

Tauson also sent threatening letters to shortstop Derek Jeter.

The judge ordered Tuason held without bond, pending a pretrial hearing for May 6 and a trial date June 2.

Snipes sentenced

A federal judge has sentenced action star Wesley Snipes to three years in prison on tax charges.

The sentenced was the maximum under the law, which U.S. prosecutors had recommended for the star of the “Blade” movie series. He was found guilty in February of failing to file tax returns for 1999-2001, in which the government said he owed $2.7 million. Prosecutors had requested three years, one year for each of Snipes’ cinvictions of willfully failing to file a tax return.

Snipes’ lawyers offered three dozen letters from family members, friends and even fellow actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington attesting to his good character. They argued he should get only probation, because all three convictions were misdemeanors and the actor had no previous criminal record.

The actor was acquitted on two felony charges of filing false claims and fraud in seeking millions of dollars of refunds in other tax years.

But prosecutors had urged the court to impose a stiff penalty on the actor nonetheless, because of his notoriety and the potential of a high-profile case to deter tax crime nationwide.

Snipes’ lawyers, in calling for leniency, had contended that he was convicted only of three misdemeanors and said the government’s tax loss in his case amounted to less than $400,000.
The actor’s attorneys said the government’s sentencing guidelines aren’t fair for tax convictions like his.
-The Associated Press and Reuters

Snipes’ co-defendants, who were convicted on the felony fraud and conspiracy charges, will also be sentenced. Eddie Ray Kahn faces up to 10 years behind bars, while Douglas P. Rosile could be jailed five to six years.

Back in Effect

Hey guys,
Sorry for the two month break. I wish I had a good excuse, but I really don't. But I got a new computer, journalistic zeal and a bunch of free time (don't know for how long but I'll take it). So I'm back in effect ready to give you the days news and other stuff I find interesting.

News from a different source

Good news for those who like a cocktail with their dinner (maybe even lunch), according to Medpage Medical News, blacks have a much lower incidence of alcohol abuse than whites. Here's what Zalman S. Agus, MD Emeritus Professor at University of Pennsylvania Medical School, had to say:

Blacks are 40% less likely than whites to develop alcohol abuse and Hispanics are half as likely as whites to develop generalized anxiety disorder.

These are among the few surprises in a major study of the incidence of such disorders, reported Bridget Grant, Ph.D., of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and colleagues online today in Molecular Psychiatry.

The study showed that compared with whites, the odds ratio for blacks developing new cases of alcohol abuse in a year was 0.60 with a 95% confidence interval from 0.34 to 0.95.

For Hispanics, the odds ratio for generalized anxiety disorder was 0.5 with a 95% confidence interval from 0.27 to 0.91.

But in general, the risk of developing substance use, mood, and anxiety disorders doesn't vary much along racial or ethnic lines, the researchers said.

Dr. Grant said the analysis of data from the second wave of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions attempted to tease out not only incidence, but also risk factors for a host of DSM-IV conditions. These included such challenging problems as major depressive disorder, alcohol abuse and dependence, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Knowing the risk factors, she said, will mean that physicians can begin to develop interventions that will prevent disease.

One promising finding is that many disorders are linked temporally -- a patient who develops one has an increased risk of developing the second.

"This study helps clarify the risk of future disorders posed by chronologically primary disorders," Dr. Grant said.

The first wave of the survey, in 2001 and 2002, interviewed 43,093 Americans. The second wave attempted to re-interview those participants and had a response rate of 86.7%, reflecting 34,653 interviews.

The researchers reported one-year incidence rates per 100 person-years at risk. Among other things, they found the one-year rate of new cases of:

-alcohol abuse was 1.03 per 100 person-years while the rate for alcohol dependence was 1.72. -drug abuse was 0.28 and drug dependence was 0.32.
-major depressive disorder was 1.52.
-bipolar I and bipolar II were 0.53 and 0.21, respectively.
-panic disorder was 0.62.
-social phobia was 0.32.
-specific phobia was 0.44.
-generalized anxiety disorder was 1.13.

Incidence rates of substance, mood, and anxiety disorders were comparable to or greater than rates of lung cancer, stroke and cardiovascular disease.

The study found that some disorders appear to precede and increase the risk of others, Dr. Grant said. So, for example, people with generalized anxiety disorder are at increased risk for panic disorder or social phobia, she said. Borderline and schizotypal personality disorders predicted most incident disorders. Substance use disorders did not predict any incident mood or anxiety disorder.

Incidence rates were significantly greater (P<0.01) among men for substance use disorders and greater among women for mood and anxiety disorders except bipolar disorders and social phobia.

Interestingly, younger age was a risk factor for almost all categories, Dr. Grant and colleagues found.

For instance, those ages 20 through 29 were twice as likely to develop major depressive disorder than those 55 or older. The odds ratio was 2.0 with a 95% confidence interval from 1.19 to 3.41.

Bell supporters going to Feds

Supporters of Sean Bell plan to take their case to Justice Department if the police officers accused in his shooting death are acquitted.

Awaiting verdict from Queens Supreme Court Justice Arthur Cooperman, Bell's family and friends gathered Monday along with members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for a rally at Caanan Baptist Church in Harlem.

"There will never be justice for me. In my heart, there never will be, because I'm always going to hurt," said Bell's father William. "So how can I get justice?"

Sanford Rubenstein, attorney for the shooting victims, said that he will bring his case to the federal government if that's what is needed to get justice.

"We are aware of the fact that the federal government is monitoring this trial," said Rubenstein. "And in the event there is no conviction, certainly we will request the federal government, the U.S. attorney, to look at this case with a view towards civil rights violations."

Lawyers for the accused detectives claimed at the trial that the officers opened fire because they thought their lives were in danger. There is precedent for a federal civil rights trial. Officer Francis Livoti was acquitted of killing Anthony Baez in 1994 -- but was later found guilty in a federal trial.

Cooperman will render his verdict Friday.

Ohio Governor wants state troopers fired

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland asked the state highway patrol to fire two troopers involved in a racist prank involving a costume that resembled Klu Klux Klan attire.

Trooper Craig Franklin was pictured on Jan. 20 wearing a white cone on his head, a white paper mask and a white cloth. Trooper Eric Wlodarsky forwarded the cell phone photo.

Strickland said Tuesday the behavior by the troopers from the Sandusky post could not be tolerated.

The state's public safety director had recommended firing. However, a union contract provision had allowed them to stay on the
job if they maintained a clean record for two years.

Strickland did not address the contract provision in his news release.

Wlodarsky told an investigator there was no malicious intent behind the picture, while Franklin apologized and said he was embarrassed.

Remembering MLK

Today is the 40th anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. He stood for non-violence but was taken down with a bullet by his enemies. here's a clip of his last speech. Enjoy, reflect, learn.

To my loyal readers,
I know I haven't posted in almost a month. I haven't dropped dead or been kidnapped by the government, just been busy working for the man - more directly the woman - so I wanted to apologize. Hopefully this weekend I can update with alacrity.

- Miss Fung

The Count Down - 321

"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."
- George w. Bush, Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003

The Count Down - 322

When the Bush administration wants to detain and interrogate foreign nationals, but doing so in the United States would violate rights they are guarenteed here, the administration transports these individuals to countries without such protections, such as Morocco, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, where they may be held without trial and tortured. This pratice is known as Extraordinary Rendition.

In the words of former CIA agent Robert Baer: "If you want a serious interrogation, you send a prisoner to Jordan. If you want them to be tortured, you send them to Syria. If you want someone to disappear-- never to see them again--you send them to Egypt."

The ACLU estimates that over 150 foreign nationals have been victims of Extraordinary Rendition since 9/11.

-From Article I of House Resolution 1106: Article of Impeachment against George Walker Bush, President of the United States, introduced by Cynthia McKinney (D-GA) on Dec. 8, 2006

The Count Down - 323

"I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbor for India, and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world."
- George W. Bush, mistakenly identifying Pakistan as an Arab country, Islamabad, Pakistan, March 3, 2006

The Count Down - 324

Although a great supporter of Bush's war in iraq, Tom DeLay was the recipient of several college deferments during the Vietnam war. He explained his lack of enthusiasm for that war when questions about Dan Quayle's military service came under scrutiny during the 1988 Republican Convention in New Orleans:

"He and Quayle, DeLay explained to the assembled media in New Orleans, were victims of an unusual phenomenon back in the days of the undeclared Southeast Asian war. So many minority youths had volunteered for the well-paying military positions to escape poverty and the ghetto that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like himself."
- Tim Fleck, Houston Press, Jan. 7, 1999

DeLay was forced to step down as House majority leader when he was indicted for conspriacy to commit fraud and illegal campaign contribution.

The Count Down - 325

Congressional investigations in Hanuary 2007 oncovered a legal blunder allowing oil companies to avoid billions of dollars in payments for oil and gas pumped from publicly owned waters, Johnnie M. Burton, the Director of the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, told a congressional hearing that she first learned about the problem in January 2006.

Confronted by e-mail messages from subordinates sent in early 2004, Ms. Burton conceded that she probably had been told earlier, but "did not remember putting a great deal of though into the matter."

Investigators calculated that the government could have collected an additional $365 million between 2004 and 2007.

The Count Down - 326

In February 2003, when Michael Dini, Texas Tech University biology professor (and devout Catholic), said he wouldn't write recommendations for students who denied evolution, he found himself under invesigtaion for religious discrimination by the Bush-Ashcroft Justice Department.

The Count Down - 327

"[President Bush] says that if we need to, we can lower the temperature dramatically just by switching from Fahrenheit to Celsius."
- Jimmy Kimmel, on fighting global warming, February 2007

The Count Down - 328

President Bush originally opposed the establishment of the 9/11 Commission, a bipartisan body charged with investigating the September 11 attacks and the American government's failure to prevent them. After weeks of negotiation with the commission, the president reluctantly agreed to an informal meeting at the White House, provided the vice president could go with him. The president was not under oath and no transcript of the discussion was made.

News Break

Sean Bell trial begins

New Orleans mayor blows up

Chauncey Bailey story on 60 minutes

Is Beyonce fit to play Etta?

Obama sexual accuser fails polograph

The Minnesota man who accused presidential hopeful Barack Obama of having sex with him and using crack-cocaine, failed two polygraph test administered by Whitehouse.com.

The tests were administered to Larry Sinclair Friday by Ed Gelb, former president of the American Polygraph Association, according to the site. One dealt with the sex claim and the other with the drug allegation. Deception was indicated in both, the report said.

Sinclair's allegations were made public when he posted a video on youtube. He also filed a lawsuit in Minnesota District Court alleging threats and intimidation by Obama's staff.

Sinclair was offered $10,000 to take the polygraph test and $100,000 if he passed it.

"My motivation for making this public is my desire for a presidential candidate to be honest," Sinclair said. "I didn't want the sex thing to come out. But I think it is important for the candidate to be honest about his drug use as late as 1999."

In his lawsuit, filed two weeks ago, he charged his civil rights have been violated by Obama and the Democratic Party. Named as defendants in the case are the presidential candidate, David Axelrod of AKP Message and Media in Chicago and the Democratic National Committee.

Sinclair alleges Obama smoked crack-cocaine while Sinclair snorted lines of cocaine in a rented limousine. He then claims he performed oral sex on Obama in the limo and then again in a hotel room a few days later.

The Count Down - 330

Although the law requires the government to disclose the work of groups that include non-government employees, Dick Cheney adamantly refuses to release notes from his Energy Task Force. In June 2004 the case went to the Supreme Court, which returned it to the lower court.

A February 2004 New Yorker piece suggested a very compelling reason Cheney does not want those meetings made public. It released a secret National Security Council memo dated Feb. 3, 2001, seven months before 9/11, suggesting that Cheney sat down with the heads of the oil companies, ten days after taking office, and began planning the invasion of Iraq and seizure of its oil fields long before the World Trade Center attacks.

The Count Down - 331

"My plan reduces the national debt, and fast, in fact, that economists worry that we're going to run out og debt to reitre."
- George W. Bush, radio address, Feb. 24, 2001. As of fall 2006, the nationa; debt was $8.4 trillion, compared to $5.7 trillion in the last year of the Clinton administration.

The Count Down - 332

"We both use Cokgate toothpaste."
- George W. Bush, after a reporter asked what he had in common with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Camp David, Maryland, Feb. 23, 2001

The Count Down - 333

In january 2007, according to the 2006 Military Times poll, for the first time more troops disapproved of the president's handling of the war than approved.

In 2004, the poll showed 83 percent of the military felt success in Iraq was likely. By early 2007, that number was down to 50 percent. And onlt 41 percent of the military felt the United States should have gone to war in Iraq in the first place, down from 65 percent.

The Count Down - 334

"You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test."
- George W. Bush, Townsend, Tennessee, Feb. 21, 2001

News from a different source

The Columbia University professor targeted by a hangman's noose has been sanctioned for plagiarism - and she responded by saying she was punished because she's black.

"I am left to wonder whether a white faculty member would have been treated in such a publicly disrespectful and disparaging manner," Madonna Constantine wrote yesterday in an e-mail to students and faculty at Teachers College.

"As one of only two tenured black women full professors at Teachers College, it pains me to conclude that I have been specifically and systematically targeted."

An outside law firm hired by Columbia found that Constantine cribbed the work of students and a fellow teacher for articles in academic journals, a statement from Teachers College said.

Columbia officials did not disclose the precise sanctions. Constantine's lawyer said he will appeal the ruling to a faculty committee and did not rule out a suit against the university.

Constantine wound up in the spotlight in October when a noose was found on her office door, prompting outrage.

The NYPD launched an investigation into the hate crime, but no one has been arrested.
The plagiarism probe was underway for a year when the noose was found, but Constantine claimed Wednesday the two were connected.

"I believe that nothing that has happened to me this year is coincidental," she wrote, calling the investigation a "witch hunt."

The allegations were lodged by ex-Prof. Christine Yeh and former students Tracy Juliao and Karen Cort, and a grievance was filed by Prof. Suniya Luthar, then acting chairwoman of the department. The probe uncovered two dozen passages in which the language was "strikingly similar" to the work of the three accusers - whom the university indemnified from future suits, the college said.

Four current and former professors, two of whom were black, reviewed the report and agreed serious sanctions were warranted.

Constantine's lawyer, Paul Giacomo, said Teachers College President Susan Fuhrman then told her she had to cop to the plagiarism and resign or the report would be made public.
"It was blackmail," he said.

He said the probe was one-sided, as evidenced by the college's willingness to protect the accusers. He said evidence showing the accusers were the real plagiarists was ignored.
Students were dismayed by the accusations. One said the sympathy for Constantine after the noose incident has been squandered. "Now her credibility is totally shot," said Matt Mireles, 27.
BY OREN YANIV and TRACY CONNOR
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Minnesota Man claims to have sex with Obama

The Count Down - 335

"My trip to Asia begins here in Japan for an important reason. It begins here because, for a century and a half now, America and Japan have formed one of the great and enduring alliances of modern times. From that alliance has come an era of peace in the Pacific."
- G.W. Bush, Tokyo, Japan, Feb. 18, 2002

The Count Down -336

The Secret Service routinely forces protestors into designated areas known as "free speech zones" or "protest zones," far from the locations visited by Bush administration officials. The United States Supreme Court has previously ruled that regulations may not target content (allowing pro-Bush demonstrators up close, while isolating anti-Bush demonstrators), which calls into question the legality of such practices.

The Count Down - 337

"They misunderestimate me."
- G.W. Bush, Bentonville, AK., Nov. 6, 2000

The Count Down - 338

"Now, we talked to Joan Hanover. She and her husband, george, were visiting with us. They are near retirement -- retiring -- in the process of retiring, meaning they're very smart, active, capable people who are retirement age and are retiring."
- George W. Bush, Alexandria, VA, Feb. 12, 2003

The Count Down - 339

U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been a Bush loyalist ever since way back in the earliest days of teh Texas governorship. His servitude has been richly rewarded by Bush appointments: from counsel to then-governor general Bush, to Texas Secretary of State, on to the Texas Supreme Court, then counsel to President Bush in 2001, and finally to U.S. Attorney General in 2005. Demonstrating an Orwellian disregard for the Constitution he is supposed to uphold, he dutifully engineered Cheney's torture policy, kept secret the details of Cheney's Energy Task Force, and has stood in resolute defense of the administration's unwarranted spying on U.S. Citizens.
- www.duckcheney.com

The Count Down - 340

"President Bush met with the president of China at the White House. The arrival ceremony was interrupted by a protester who started yelling, 'Stop the persecution, stop the torture!' President Bush had to ask, 'Which one of is are you talking to?'"
- Jay Leno, April 2006

The Count Down

"See, one of the interesting things in the Oval office -- I love to brin people into the oval office -- right around the corner from here -- and say, this is where I office, but I want you to know the office is always bigger than the person."
- George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2004

Get Some

Today is Valentine's day and I'm sure someone out there is going to get some. Well the New York City department of health and mental hygiene is helping those who plan to get some by handing out free condoms that hold the logo "Get Some" on the wrapper. Condoms will be handed out on 42nd Street and other locations throughout the city.


So go out there and GET SOME! Cause tonight is night to spread love, not disease. Happy Valentine's Day!!!

The Count Down - 342

"The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein beacuse of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself."
- George W. Bush, Grand Rapids, Michigan, Jan. 29, 2003

The Count Down-343

"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
- Abraham Lincoln, 1864

News from a different source

President Bush said Tuesday that recent displays ofnooses are disturbing and indicate that some Americans may be losingsight of the suffering that blacks have endured across the nation.

"The era of rampant lynching is a shameful chapter in Americanhistory," Bush said in an event marking African-American history monthat the White house.

"The noose is not a symbol of prairie justice, but of grossinjustice," the president said. "Displaying one is not a harmlessprank, and lynching is not a word to be mentioned in jest."

As a civil society, Americans should agree that noose displays andlynching jokes are "deeply offensive," Bush said."

They are wrong. And they have no place in America today."

For decades, the noose was a symbolic part of a campaign of violence,fear and intimidation against blacks, the president said. Sometimes, he added, it was orchestrated by the law enforcement officers chargedwith protecting them. Bush also said the noose was a tool forintimidation and killing that conveyed a sense of powerlessness tomillions of blacks throughout the country."

Fathers were dragged from their homes in the dark of night before theeyes of their terrified children," he said. "Summary executions wereheld by torchlight in front of hateful crowds. In many cases, lawenforcement officers responsible for protecting the victims werecomplicit in their deaths."

At the event, Bush is honoring Rep. John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement who organized freedom rides, sit-ins and voterregistration drives; and William Coleman, the first black American tobe a clerk on the U.S. Supreme Court and who served as President Ford's transportation secretary. Coleman thus was the first AfricanAmerican to hold a Cabinet post in a Republican administration.

Bush also recognized Ernest Green, one of the nine black students inLittle Rock, Ark., who were escorted into the city's all-white CentralHigh School following the historic Brown vs. Board of Education of themid 1950s, and Otis Williams, a leader of the vocal group "TheTemptations."
-Deb Reichman, AP

ABC sues for racist act

A black employee of ABC has filed suit against the company for racistaction taken against him.

Oswald Wilson is sueing ABC and its parent company Disneyciting apattern of racial discrimination that has caused him physical pain and emotional suffering. According to Wilson a co-worker placed a blackbaby doll from a noose at his work station in March of 2004. He claims that when he reported the incident, his boos refused to take the doll down.

The incident occured after bosses told him to take down a newspaperarticle commemorating Black History Month he'd hung on an equipment rack at ABC's engineering maintenance shop at 125 West End Ave.

Black History Month should be changed to White Aryan Nation month,"Wilson says a boss told him.

Instead of taking down the noose, his bosses transferred him toanother ABC shop.ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover denied the claims, which Wilson firstraised in a complaint filed with the state Division of Human Rightsthat he later withdrew.

"This is not an issue that the company takes lightly," Hoover said."It was absolutely not a noose."Wilson remains out on medical leave. He and his attorney could not bereached for comment.

Wilson says the noose was still there when he returned to the West EndAve. location in 2005. In October 2006, Wilson's bosses accused him oftaking too many sick days, the lawsuit claims.

The Count Down - 344

"The recession started upon my arrival. It could have been -- some say February, some say March, some speculate maybe earlier it started -- but nevertheless it happened as we showed up here. The attacks on our country affected our economy. Corporate scandals affected the confidence of people and therefore affected the economy. My decision on Iraq, this kind of march to war, affected the economy."
- George W. Bush, Meet the Press, Feb. 8, 2004

The Count Down - 345

"Psychologically, President Bush has received support for so long because many have thought of him as 'one of us.' Most of us feel inadequate in some way, and watching him we can feel his inadequacies and sense his uncertainties, so we admire him for 'pullinh it off' ... We are the culture that values the power of positive thinking and seeks assertiveness training. We believe that the right attitude can sometimes be more important than brains or hard work.... We don't dare to really confront the scale of his incompetent behavior."
- Psychiatrist John P. Briggs and author J.P. Briggs II, "Bush and the Psychology of Incompetent Decisions," www.truthout.org, Jan. 26, 2007

Back in effect

Hey you guys, I'm back. I know you missed me. Hopefully I wont ever have to be away from you all so long. But lets get back to business.

The Count Down - 346

"But the true strength of America is found in the hearts and souls of people like Travis, people who are willing to love their neighbor, just like they would like to love themselvest the ."
- George W. Bush, referring to a local citizen who dedicates his spare time to volunteer work throughout his community, Springfield, Mo, Feb. 9, 2004

What in the world is going on?????

A state lawmaker wants to ban restaurants from serving food to obese customers — but please, don’t be offended.

He says he never even expected his plan to become law.

“I was trying to shed a little light on the number one problem in Mississippi,” said Republican Rep. John Read of Gautier, who acknowledges that at 5-foot-11 and 230 pounds, he’d probably have a tough time under his own bill.

More than 30 percent of adults in Mississippi are considered it obese, according to a 2007 study by the Trust for America’s Health, a research group that focuses on disease prevention.

The state House Public Health Committee chairman, Democrat Steve Holland of Plantersville, said he is going to “shred” the bill.

“It is too oppressive for government to require a restaurant owner to police another human being from their own indiscretions,” Holland said Monday.

The bill had no specifics about how obesity would be defined, or how restaurants were supposed to determine if a customer was obese.

Al Stamps, who owns a restaurant in Jackson, said it is “absurd” for the state to consider telling him which customers he can’t serve. He and his wife, Kim, do a bustling lunch business at Cool Al’s, which serves big burgers — beef or veggie — and specialty foods like “Sassy Momma Sweet Potato Fries.”

“There is a better way to deal with health issues than to impose those kind of regulations,” Al Stamps said. “I’m sorry — you can’t do it by treating adults like children and telling them what they can and cannot eat.”

So I was on MSNBC at work the other day, if you haven't figured it out I love MSNBC/NBC its one of those dream job places, but I digress, and I came across this article. I was discussing it with a co-worker who thought the plan was a good idea. I think not. Its just as bad as being racist or sexist.

Sure we all want a solution for obesity but shunning fat people is not the answer. That wont stop them from eating, honestly it would make me want to eat more. How about making healthier food or making healthy food more affordable. How about making smaller portions. I know that really its about self control, but why is the most unhealthy crap so cheap. How about changing those things first, before you turn a group of people that are already outcasts, in a way, and ostracizing them even more.

News from a different source

Check out MSNBC Race and Ethnicity report on a group of black employees reaction to an unfair employer.

WINDER, Ga. - Four black former employees of a north Georgia restaurant say they were unfairly strip searched by white managers and that three of them were fired after they complained.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a lawsuit on their behalf, seeking back wages plus interest.

The federal agency's complaint says managers searched the four employees after $100 disappeared from a white employee's cash register at the Krystal restaurant in Winder in June 2005.

Herbert Hunter, Daphne Hill and Shannon Jackson say they were fired after they complained that only black employees were strip searched. Quinthony Brown did not return to work after he was searched.

"We don't want any other employee subjected to this kind of treatment," Vincent Hill, the EEOC attorney handling the case, told the Athens Banner-Herald.

The employees complained to the EEOC two months after the alleged incident, and the agency has been working to negotiate a settlement with New Capital Dimensions, the Milledgeville-based company that formerly owned the Winder franchise of the Krystal chain that operates across the South.

Richard and Betty Bertoli of Milledgeville are listed as the corporation's registered agents with the Georgia Secretary of State's Office. A woman who answered the telephone Saturday at Richard Bertoli's home in Milledgeville said "I don't know anything about that," and then hung up the telephone.

Torture victim receives scholarship

A West Virgina woman who was allegedly kidnapped and tortured last summer is getting help with her education.

Megan Williams, 20, was offered a two-year, $40,000 scholarshop from ITT Technical Institute, a new computer and six months of tutoring to help her earn a GED while appearing on the Montell Williams show this week.

Williams appeared on the talk show as a guest on an episode focusing on hate crimes.

According to Logan County police Willaims was forced to eat animal feces, sexually assaulted and stabbed by six white people who kept her captive for several days.

Three of the alleged attackers recently plead guilty to charges of assault and rape.

Jena Six student in trouble again

A defendant in the Lousiana "Jena Six" case was arrested for slamming allegedly slamming a student's head into a bench at a school in Texas.

Bryant R. Purvis, 19, was arrested on a charge of assault causing bodily injury Wednesday after an altercation at Hebron High School.
Purvis believes the other student flattened his car tires. Purvis was released from jail Thursday morning.

According to a police report, the student felt Purvis come behind him and "grab his neck with one hand and begin to choke him." Purvis then said, "Don't you ever mess with my car again" and slammed the student's head into the bench of a table and walked away, the report said. The student's left eye was injured, but Singleton didn't know whether he needed medical attention after seeing the school nurse.

The school has declined to comment.

Purvis faces aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit battery charges in the Jena case and is set for trial in March. If convicted of both charges, he faces up to 22 1/2 years in prison.

Purvis couldn't be reached for comment Thursday because there's no listed number for the uncle he lives with in Texas, Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Jason Hatcher. No one answered the door at the home Thursday afternoon. Soon after Purvis' arrest in Louisiana, his mother sent him to live with Hatcher to keep him out of trouble and out of the spotlight.

Bathroom Break

I'm sure you have noticed I have not been posting lately. Unfortunately I will not be able to post for a while due to technical difficulties with my internet connection.

Hopefully the issue is resolved in the next few days, but until then you will have to go elsewhere for all the latest news on race and ethnicity and just about everything else.

Here are some sites I like to visit:

Redding Review

Cake and Ice Cream

MSNBC

Young Black & Fabulous

Miss Fung

The Count Down - 363

"The president listened too much to the vice president ... of course, the presidents bears the ultimate responsibility, but he was very badly served by both the vice president and, most of all, the secretary of defense ... Rumsfeld will go down in history, along with McNamara, as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history."
- Sen, John McCain (R-AZ) quoted in the Politico, Jan. 24, 2007

'Party of Racism'

Racial gaffes by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign, the meteoric rise of Sen. Barack Obama and the pivotal role of the South Carolina primary on Saturday have intensified the issue of race in the Democratic Party, which makes Bruce Bartlett seem like a prophet of sorts.

In his new book, "Wrong on Race: The Democratic Party's Buried Past," Mr. Bartlett chronicles the party's history from slavery to the civil rights era and beyond, providing a look at such figures as South Carolina's "Pitchfork Ben" Tillman and other racist Democrats.

"At least on a historical level, the Democratic Party has always been the party of racism," Mr. Bartlett said in a telephone interview with The Washington Times.

A former Reagan administration official whose previous book "Impostor" criticized President Bush for straying from conservative policies, Mr. Bartlett said the purpose of his latest book is to challenge Democrats' "party of inclusion" mantra and to encourage black voters to dutifully consider the merits of both major parties.

"One purpose of the book was to give Republicans a kind of story to tell, if they decide to go into the black community and talk to black leaders," he said. "I think at an abstract level there are a lot of blacks who recognize that being almost totally part of one political party and not being involved with the other is not good for them."

Mr. Bartlett said the black community would increase its political clout by putting its 40 million or so votes into play for each party to court, rather than aligning more than 90 percent of those votes with the Democratic Party. This is similar to the way Hispanics have shifted parties on the immigration issue.

"Rightly or wrongly, [Republican candidates] have adopted the anti-illegal-immigrant position," Mr. Bartlett said.

If Democratic candidates win big in the November elections, "Hispanics are going to do better. It's a bigger community, a much faster-growing community ... and some black leaders are going to come to the realization that they do not have the same leverage within the Democrat coalition," he said.

Such calculations might be necessary, Mr. Bartlett said, but the rhetoric among presidential candidates has made race an indelibly touchy topic for both major parties, and missteps could prove costly to either side.

He noted the uproar over a comment by Mrs. Clinton this month that seemed to diminish the accomplishments of Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement.

"Dr. King's dream began to be realized when President Lyndon Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took a president to get it done," Mrs. Clinton said Jan. 7 in New Hampshire.

"It's a revealing comment," Mr. Bartlett said, "exactly the sort of thing that, if a Republican said it, would be viewed as racist."

Mr. Bartlett said such incidents give Republicans an opportunity to find common ground with black Americans and fight for their vote.

"Republicans have to make a major effort to reach out to the black community. They have a responsibility to, even if the payoff is low, because if you're going to be a national party you have to represent everybody in the country," he said.

The rise of Mr. Obama as a challenger to Mrs. Clinton indicates the urgency for Republicans to establish their appeal to black voters.

"If [Republicans] start to talk now about the Democratic Party's racist past, then they'll help prepare themselves for dealing with the possibility of running against a black candidate and being able to frame some of their criticism of him, that they undoubtedly will have, in terms that will not be viewed as potentially racist," he said. "It's going to be a difficult balancing act."
-By L.A. Holmes

The Count Down - 363

"He was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, the government had declared, 'you are a state sponsor of terror.'"
- George W, Bush, on Saddam Hussein, Manhattan, Ks, Jan. 23, 2006

News Break

White Supremacist group march in Jena

All white, male police force draws criticism

New trial for accused in Sears Tower plot

Ruby Dee nominated for Oscar

The Count Down - 364

At a meeting of the Republican National Committee on Jan. 22, 2002, Karl Rove explained the administration strategy for using Americans' fear of terrorism as apolitical tool by saying, "We can go to the country on this issue because they trust protecting and strengthening America's military might and thereby protecting America."

The Count Down - 365

The Count Down 366

In early 2002 President Bush issued a secret executive order authorizing the National Security Agency to engage in electronic eavesdropping, without judicial warrant, on phone calls between Americans and foreign nationals.

The President's action was of dubious legality; He had failed to abide by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which provides a court oversee government domestic spying in the name of national security.

The Count Down - 367

"The response to the drowning of New Orleans has been a failure on every level. President Bush's eloquent promise in Jackson Square to rebuild higher and better soothed the nation. But since then there has been no concrete action plan for reconstruction -- only a patchwork of programs marked by dithering, bickering and bureaucratic finger-pointing throughout."
- New York Times editorial, Jan. 19, 2007, almost 18 months after the hurricanes.

The Count Down

There are 368 days until Bush is ousted from the White House. Until that day lets see how the American media interprets his nonsense.

"Despite protest from conservatives, President Bush appointed an openly gay man as his assistant secretary of commerce. Bush claimed a gay man is perfect for the commerce department, 'Those people love to shop.'"
- Conan O'Brien, June 2005

News Break

BET founder apologizes to Obama

Restoring the Apollo

All tied up

Arrest made in missing girl case

The Count Down

There are 369 days until Bush makes his farewell address. Until that day lets hail the former chief.

"Our military organization today bears little relation to that known by any of my predecessors in peacetime. [Also] until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry ... we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the Federal government.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex."
- President Eisenhower, during his farewell address, Jan. 17, 1961

OWN

I don't know how many of you are interested in Oprah, I often don't agree with her position on things that black people produce and her all white audience, but I respect her hustle and aspire to be like her, a billionaire black female journalist. Her journey I'm sure was extremely difficult and I respect that she came out on top. Recently she announced some more big things in her life, she has a TV show, a book club, a magazine, people who hang onto her every word, a XM radio station and now a television network. Here's the story:

As Oprah Winfrey recalls it, she was struggling with whether her nationally syndicated talk show would or even could pull itself out of the muck that was enveloping daytime TV when she wrote a particularly ambitious yet prophetic journal entry.

She wrote on May 24, 1992, of wanting to leverage her top-rated program to fulfill her "vision of creating my own network" to teach people "to be all they can be in the world and living their best lives," Winfrey said Tuesday as she and Discovery Communications Chief Executive David Zaslav unveiled the fulfillment of that long-held dream.

OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network is set to make its debut in the second half of next year in 70 million homes on what is now the Discovery Health Network.

The multiplatform media venture, which will include the Oprah.com Web site, will be a 50-50 venture owned by Discovery and Winfrey's Harpo Productions, with Winfrey as its chairwoman and enjoying editorial control.

For Winfrey, one of the world's most powerful media moguls, whose Chicago-based empire already extends well beyond "The Oprah Winfrey Show" to include O magazine, the "Oprah & Friends" channel on XM Satellite Radio and a movie and television production company, this is more than a mere dream come true.

It is an opportunity to establish a legacy.

"The truth of the matter is one day the show has to end," Winfrey, who will turn 54 this month, said in a call with reporters. "That may be 2011 [when its current syndication deal expires] and that may be after 2011. ... This is an evolution of what I've been able to do every day. I will now have the opportunity to do that 24 hours a day on a platform that goes on forever.

"This network isn't just about me," she said. "It's using the voice and the brand and the vision, but it really is about creating possibilities for any number of people ... to extend the vision in a way that obviously I cannot 24 hours a day."

The new channel is being created through a cashless transaction. Winfrey's Harpo Productions will be responsible for OWN's programming, branding and creative vision. Discovery Communications' contribution will be its nine-year-old Discovery Health Channel, as well as distribution, origination and other operational requirements.

"There's no stronger brand in media than the Oprah brand," Zaslav said.

While OWN will launch in this country, as part of Discovery's portfolio that includes Discovery Channel, TLC and Animal Planet, Discovery Communications reaches 173 countries and Zaslav said he looks to take OWN global.

Until the end of her syndication deal, Winfrey cannot rerun episodes of her daytime show on the new channel. She has an option to end the program at the end of the 2009-10 TV season and her contract ends in 2011. She said she expects to decide this fall how long she wants to continue the show, seen locally weekdays at 9 a.m. and 11:05 p.m. on WLS-Ch. 7.

OWN offers her the opportunity, perhaps, to bid up her own price by providing a legitimate option. Or it could be a secondary outlet for her, much like her satellite radio channel, which is filled mostly with personalities she has nurtured on her TV show, such as Gayle King, design expert Nate Berkus, personal trainer Bob Greene and heart surgeon Mehmet Oz.

"Over the years, there's no one that's better at spotting talent and developing talent and, as chairman of this multimedia company, that's a big strength that we're going to lean on," Zaslav said.

Harpo programming

The new channel will have access to other programming from Harpo, which is producing reality shows for ABC as well as TV movies.

No decision has yet been made about where the new network will be based. First, Winfrey must choose a chief executive to handle day-to-day operations, someone who understands what she wants.

Winfrey was an original investor in the Oxygen cable channel, which launched in 1998 and was sold in October to NBC Universal for $925 million, but she eventually scaled back her involvement because, she said, "the channel did not reflect my voice."

Zaslav was moved to approach Winfrey after his wife gave him a copy of her O magazine.

He apparently won Winfrey over by professing he cared less about ratings than staying true to one's brand.

"Having spent the past 22 years, every day ... where your life is controlled by ratings, the idea of creating programming that's just really good for people allowing people to respond to it based upon the niche you're going to build for it was the most exciting thing I ever heard," Winfrey said.

It all goes back to that 1992 journal entry.

"I wrote that when I was going through the conflict of the Jerry Springers and everybody was going to trash TV, and I was trying to figure out for myself what I really wanted, in what direction I wanted to go," Winfrey said. "That's how I started thinking ... one day I'm going to have my own network so I can do it the way I want to do it."
-Phil Rosenthal, Tribune reporter

Graffiti investigated as hate crime

The graffiti spray-painted on the black fence of a black Arizona family is being investigated as a hate crime.

Homeowner James Tribble said his wife called him Sunday while he was golfing to tell him she had found the graffiti containing a racial epithet on the inside of the block fence.

"It was the n-word written across and then with the letter 'g.' I assumed it means 'get out,' but you know, who knows?" Tribble said. Tribble said he thought the vandals might have been scared away before they could finish.

Tribble is black and has a white wife. The couple have three children together.

Tribble said other minority families in the neighborhood have been targeted. About two months ago, he said, mailboxes in front of two houses occupied by minorities were vandalized.

"They're specifically hitting the minorities of the neighborhood so it's obvious they know what they're doing and who they're doing it to," Tribble said.

Tribble said he has no plans to move, but his family's safety is his primary concern.

"It definitely hurts, you know. It definitely does hurt. And when you have a family on top of that, it makes you just fear for your family, fear for yourself, for your property," Tribble said.

White Supremacist march

A white supremacist group will able to march in Jena, La. on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day without putting up the customary $10,000 bond, says a federal judge.

"After two status conferences with all parties and a federal judge, we acknowledge that our ordinance does not pass First Amendment scrutiny," Mayor Murphy R. McMillin said in a news release Friday. "As we have said from the beginning, we are going to comply with the law. Although we disagree with the position of the Nationalist Movement, and with the beliefs that the group promotes, we respect the rights of its constituents to express those beliefs."

The Nationalist Movement announced they would march in Jena on MLK day back in September. The march was provoked by a rally in Jena for the six black teens standing trial for jumping a white teen. Thousands descended on the small town to demand the county prosecutor reduced the attempted murder charges the underage teens faced.

The prosecutors have since reduced the charges to second-degree assault. One defendant, Mychal Bell, has been tried and convicted. The conviction was thrown out by an appeals court which ruled that he should never have been tried as an adult, because he was only 17 at the time of the crime. However, he is now serving eight months on a separate, earlier juvenile offense.

The Count Down

There are 371 days until Bush makes his final descent from the White House. Until that day lets see what the American media has to say about him.

"Only this president, only in this time, only with this dangerous, even messianic certitude, could answer a country demanding an exit strategy from Iraq by offering an entrance strategy in Iran. Only this president could look out over a vista of 3,008 dead and 22,834 wounded in Iraq, and finally say, 'Where mistakes have been made, the responsibility rests with me' -- only to follow that by proposing to repeat the identical mistake ... in Iran ... This is diplomacy by skimming; it is internationalism by drawing pictures of Superman in the margins of the textbooks; it is a presidency of Cliff's Notes."
- Keith Olberman, MSNBC Countdown, Jan. 11, 2007

The Count Down

There are 372 days until Bush is ousted from the White House, lets see what the New York Times has to say about him.

"President Bush always had one asset he could fall back on: the self-confidence of a born salesman. Like Harold Hill in The Music Man, he knew how to roll out a new product, however deceptive or useless, with conviction and stagecraft. What the world saw on Wednesday night was a defeated Willy Loman who looked as broken as his war. His flop sweat was palpable even if you turned down the sound ...."
- Frank Rich, The New York Times, Jan. 14, 2007, shortly after Bush announced to the nation that he was sending more troops to Iraq

The Count Down

There are 373 days until Bush leaves the oval office. I'm tired of coming up with a line for this so lets here we go.

"The consequences of failure are clear: Radical Islamic extremists would grow in strength and gain new recruits ... Our enemies would have a safe haven from which to plan and launch attacks on the American people."
- President Bush's speech to the nation announcing his decision to send 20,000 more troops to Baghdad, Jan. 10, 2007

"... The risks are far greater that Iraqi Shiites and Kurds would end up fighting Sunnis, if not each other. Iranian influence would grow. Sunni nations would intervene ... The primary risk is civil war with broad regional implications, not a Sunni extremist victory."
- Anthony H. Cordesman, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, analyzing Bush's speech in the New York Times, Jan. 12, 2007

The Count Down

There are 374 days until the end of the Bush administration until that day lets try and make sense of a strange mans ramblings.

"It's more than a risk, it's a riverboat gamble. There's no question that under our sustem [Bush is] going to be able to stop him. But he's going to face so many battles over these next few months, on funding for the war, on every decision he makes, that he's basically taking the nation into another nightmare of conflict over a war that no one sees any end to."
- Leon Panetta, Democratic member of the Iraq Study Group, on Jan. 11, 2007, the day after Bush ordered 20,000 more troops to Bgahdad

The Count Down

There are 375 days until Bush is ousted from the White House. Until that day lets see what people think of him.

"President Bush told Americans last night that failure in Iraq would be a disaster. The disaster is Mr. Bush's war, and he has already failed. Last night was his chance to stop offering more fog and be honest with the nation, and he did not take it."
- New York Times editorial, Jan. 11, 2007

The Count Down

There are 376 days until the end of the Bush administration. Until that day lets look at some nonsensical mess.

"I have committed more than 20,000 additional American troops to Iraq ... Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not."
- George W. Bush, during his speech to the nation, Jan. 10, 2007

Hillary's plan

Just days before the New Hampshire primaries candidate Hillary Clinton broke down in tears, while the tears some like genuine tears in a plea for her case, was it really that way. Or was it that she was saying hiddenly "save me from this black man." In the primaries the senior population came out in record numbers to speak their minds and they would rather have a woman who has done nothing for her the state where she is the senator, than a black man who is making changes. See what Robert Redding Jr. has to say.

What's most interesting about the recent vote in New Hampshire is how Sen. Hillary Clinton was able to pull the race card by crying herself into a win over big, bad Black Sen. Barack Obama. She cried or teared-up when asked what keeps her going just a day ahead of the state's primary against a surging Obama. "It's not easy and I couldn't do it if I just didn't," Clinton replied, "you know, passionately believe it was the right thing to do. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country, I just don't want to see us fall backwards (her voice is now breaking as people applaud). This is very personal for me it's not just political, it's …I see what's happening, we have to reverse it and some people think elections are a game."

While tearfully proclaiming that she “didn’t want to see us fall backward” that’s exactly where she took us. The implication was that only she, among all the candidates, especially Obama, could lead our country into the future. How disingenuous and insulting, not only to the other candidates, but especially to the black folks who faithfully support the Clinton machine. Most pundits immediately cited the obvious historic example Maine's Ed Muskie's tearing episode. Muskie, who was upset at attacks on his wife, lost the race for the White House back in 1972. He has since said that he did not cry, but that it was just snow melting on his face. Clinton, however, has not denied that she was on the verge of tears — she actually confirmed it during an interview with Fox News.

Her admission comes as some pundits had said that if a man can't get away with crying then Clinton — who is trying to be the first female to reach the presidency — certainly can't.

Now it is general knowledge that crying is the oldest trick in the book and can be very helpful. Crying usually works in relationships, when some try to get their partner to stay with them.

The reason it worked for the usually composed Clinton is because we are in uncharted waters. The pundits forget that crying also works as a rally cry among Whites anytime a White woman is in distress due to the unwanted advances of a Black man — or any man for that matter. One of the most famous examples in this post-slavery society we live in is the Emmett Till incident.

We know that single women turned out to vote for Clinton because of her tears, a constituency that had begun to fall for Obama's message of hope and change. The crying even convinced some Obama supporters to vote for her, according to Fox News. The fact is, we had Obama, a black man, doing extremely well in New Hampshire's polls – he had been down by as many as 20 points in the weeks leading up to the election, but surged after his convincing win in Iowa. He immediately began to lead in the New Hampshire by as many as 10 percentage points, according to polls.

His defeat yesterday effectively caps his surge and has many pundits asking what happened? Well, Clinton did something you won't hear about on most news networks or read about in most newspapers and that is, she took us back to slavery and Jim Crow - she cried foul and whites fell for it.

The Count Down

There are 377 days until Bush is ousted from the Oval Office. Until that day lets see how much of a hypocrit Bush can be.

In January 2007, Saddam Hussein was executed over the objections of the Bush administration.

Instead of being tried for crimes against humanity, Hussein was sent to the gallows for the political murders of Shiites following a 1982 assassination attempt. The implication was that justice was important only for Hussein's crimes against Shiites, and not those committed against Sunnis and Kurds, further deepenind factional rifts in Iraq.

George W. Bush expressed his disappointment with the manner in which Hussein was executed, saying in a 60 Minutes interview that he did not believe in "vengeance." This was the same man who in part justified deposing Saddam in 2002, because "he tried to kill my dad."

News Break

Clinton slays Obama --- are we really surprised

NJ apologizes for slavery

New Philly mayor promises changes

Golf Channel apologizes for lynch remarks

The Count Down

There are 379 days until the end of the Bush administration, until that day lets look back at his policy.

"One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end."
- George W. Bush, celebrating the first anniversary of the No Child Left Behind Act, Washington, D.C., Jan. 8, 2003

The Count Down

There are 380 days until Bush is ousted from the Oval Office. Until that day lets laugh to keep from crying.

"Senator John McCain recently compared the situation in Iraq to the Vietnam era -- to which President Bush replied, 'What does Iraq have in common with drinking beer in Texas?'"
- Craig Kilborn, November 2003

You know what really grinds my gears?????

When you go to the ATM machine and the person at the machine is taking a million years at the machine. The money is not there buddy. If you have to go over the same transaction four times, just face it your broke.

You should not take longer than three minutes at the ATM machine, there should be a time limit, if your not finished with what you need to do in three minutes then your card should be taken from you and you should be escorted off the premises. If you think you can't handle the complicated ATM machine then go inside the bank and do what you have to do. Have some face time with a teller that can take you step by step through your banking needs. Get to the bank before 4 p.m.

People like me, go to the ATM machine because they want to be in and out. But you slow pokes out here make it difficult for the rest of us. Get with the program or go home, the rest of the world has better things to do than stand behind you at the ATM machine.

The Count Down

There are 381 days until Bush is ousted from the White House. Until that day lets analyze the hypocrisy of our democracy.

Don Rumsfield, then special envoy of President Ronald Reagan, met with Reagan administration friend Saddam Hussein on Jan. 1, 1984. Twelve years later, The Washington Post reported that the United States "in a shift in policy, has informed friendly Persian Gulf nations that the defeat of Iraq in the three-year-old war with Iran would be 'contrary to U.S. interests.'" This was the same Iraq that was using mustard and nerve gas in the Iran-Iraq war back in the day when WMDs were okay.

The Count Down

There are 382 days until the end of the Bush administration, until that day lets look back at the wise words of a foolish man.

"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."
- George W. Bush, advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, New Meixco, Jan. 22, 2004.

The Count Down

There are 383 days until Bush is ousted out the White House. Until lets day lets talk about things that really matter ... taxes.

In 2006, the president's tax policy resulted in an average tax benefit of $23 for americans in the lowest 20 percent of personal income. The middle 20 percent of Americans received a benefit for $748. The top one percent of Americans received an average tax benefit of $39,000. Individuals making more than $10 million a year saw their tax bills decrease by an average of $500,000.

News Break

HBCU in Detroit might close

NJ might apologize for slavery

DMX gospel album

Ne-Yo sues R. Kelly

The Count Down

There are 384 days until the end of Bush administration. Until that day lets talk about what really matters ... money.

In January 2007, The New York Times pointed out that the dollar had continued to slide against the Euro and the British pound and that the United Arab Emirates were joining the Russians, the Swiss, Venezuela, and others in shifting its currency reserves away from the dollar.

Further evidence of the Bush dollar losing its glow as the coin of the realm: Iran is leading the Middle East oil producers away from the traditional pricing of oil in U.S. dollars: it now prefers Euros.

When Bush took office the Euro was worth about .90 cents. As of March 2007, its worth about $1.33.

Mandatory HIV test for pregnancy

New Jersey is changing the rules for prenatal care in this country. Recently the state bordering New York created laws mandating HIV test for pregnant women.

The bill signed just after Christmas, requires two tests for pregnant women at the beginning of the pregnancy and again in the third trimester.

However, mothers do have the right to object. If the mother does object, the objection will be noted and the baby will be tested at birth. Newborns will also be tested if the woman tests positive.

Four other states require this prenatal measure, including New York.

New Jersey records about 115,000 births each year. While there were no recorded mother-to-child transmissions this year, as of the June report, there were two children born infected in 2006 and seven born infected in 2005, according to the health department.

Police shoot Brooklyn man

A Brooklyn man was fatally shot by Police in the East New York section of Brooklyn Tuesday night.

The shooting occurred at approximately 9 p.m. The victim, whose name was not released, was rushed to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. He was later pronounced dead.

Police will not release specific details of the melee. However a gun was recovered at the scene.

Witnesses claimed to hear gunshots, then screams, then more gunshots.

"I heard the shots," said Moises DeJesus, 14, who was with friends at his house nearby when the shooting occurred. "They were screaming, 'Get down! Get down!'"

"We didn’t want to go outside," said Delmas Ortiz, 14, who was with Moises. "We were worried we were going to get shot."

The Count Down

There are 385 days until Bush is removed from the White House. Until that day lets reflect on years past.

"As you can possibly see, I have an injury myself -- not here at the hospital, but in combat with a cedar. I eventually won. The cedar gave me a little scratch. As a mater of fact, the Colonel asked if I needed first aid when she first saw me. I was able to avoid any major surgical operations here, but thanks for your compassion, Colonel."

-George W. Bush, after visiting with wounded veterans from the Amputee Care Center of Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Tx, Jan. 1, 2006

Kwanzaa

Today is the last day of Kwanzaa.

Imani (Faith) To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.